Grey matter abnormalities in social anxiety disorder: a pilot study

Syal, Supriya; Hattingh, Coenraad; Fouché, Jean-Paul; Spottiswoode, Bruce; Carey, Paul D.; Löchner, Christine; Stein, Dan J.

doi:10.1007/s11011-012-9299-5

Cited by 92 publications

(125 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…While Syal et al (2012) [8] found no volumetric differences in the amygdala and hippocampus of subjects with SAD and controls, Irle et al (2011) [6] reported precisely the opposite to our findings; that is, volume reductions in the amygdala and hippocampus of subjects with generalized SAD relative to controls, which led us to take a closer look at the processes of atrophy/hypertrophy of limbic structures possibly associated with anxiety.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 82%

“…Recently, however, Irle et al (2010) [6] found decreased amygdalar and hippocampal volumes in men with generalized SAD relative to controls and Liao et al (2011) [7] reported reduced gray matter volumes in the right hippocampus and inferior temporal gyrus in SAD, which were associated with enhanced resting-state functional connectivity. Finally, in the last and most recent article describing structural changes associated with social anxiety, Syal et al (2012) [8] described cortical thickness reductions in areas surrounding the fusiform and post-central gyri and, specifically on the right hemisphere, in the frontal, temporal, parietal, and insular cortices. Their volumetric analyses, however, showed no differences between patients with SAD and healthy controls in respect to the volume of the amygdala and hippocampus.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Increased Amygdalar and Hippocampal Volumes in Young Adults with Social Anxiety

et al. 2014

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BackgroundFunctional neuroimaging studies have consistently shown abnormal limbic activation patterns in socially anxious individuals, but structural data on the amygdala and hippocampus of these patients are scarce. This study explored the existence of structural differences in the whole brain, amygdala, and hippocampus of subjects with clinical and subthreshold social anxiety compared to healthy controls. We hypothesized that there would be volumetric differences across groups, without predicting their direction (i.e. enlargement or reduction).MethodsSubjects classified as having social anxiety disorder (n = 12), subthreshold social anxiety (n = 12) and healthy controls (n = 14) underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging scans. The amygdala and hippocampus were defined a priori as regions of interest and volumes were calculated by manual tracing. Whole brain volume was calculated using voxel-based morphometry.ResultsThe bilateral amygdala and left hippocampus were enlarged in socially anxious individuals relative to controls. The volume of the right hippocampus was enlarged in subthreshold social anxiety participants relative to controls. No differences were found across groups in respect to total brain volume.ConclusionsOur results show amygdalar and hippocampal volume alterations in social anxiety, possibly associated with symptom severity. The time course of such alterations and the cellular and molecular bases of limbic plasticity in social anxiety should be further investigated.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 82%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increased Amygdalar and Hippocampal Volumes in Young Adults with Social Anxiety

et al. 2014

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“…A recent meta-analysis showed reduced cortical thickness in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), ACC, insula and temporal lobes in MDD patients (Schmaal et al, 2016). There are few cortical thickness studies of SAD patients, and only three original studies have reported cortical thickening in the left insula, right ACC and right temporal pole and cortical thinning in the right post-central cortex (Syal et al, 2012, Frick et al, 2013, Bruhl et al, 2014). However, the results of these studies may be confounded by the presence of medication and comorbid depression and anxiety.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gray Matter Abnormalities in Non-comorbid Medication-naive Patients with Major Depressive Disorder or Social Anxiety Disorder

et al. 2017

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BackgroundAn overlap of clinical symptoms between major depressive disorder (MDD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD) suggests that the two disorders exhibit similar brain mechanisms. However, few studies have directly compared the brain structures of the two disorders. The aim of this study was to assess the gray matter volume (GMV) and cortical thickness alterations between non-comorbid medication-naive MDD patients and SAD patients.MethodsHigh-resolution T1-weighted images were acquired from 37 non-comorbid MDD patients, 24 non-comorbid SAD patients and 41 healthy controls (HCs). Voxel-based morphometry analysis of the GMV (corrected with a false discovery rate of p < 0.001) and vertex-based analysis of cortical thickness (corrected with a clusterwise probability of p < 0.001) were performed, and group differences were compared by ANOVA followed by post hoc tests.OutcomesRelative to the HCs, both the MDD patients and SAD patients showed the following results: GMV reductions in the bilateral orbital frontal cortex (OFC), putamen, and thalamus; cortical thickening in the bilateral medial prefrontal cortex, posterior dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, insular cortex, left temporal pole, and right superior parietal cortex; and cortical thinning in the left lateral OFC and bilateral rostral middle frontal cortex. In addition, MDD patients specifically showed a greater thickness in the left fusiform gyrus and right lateral occipital cortex and a thinner thickness in the bilateral lingual and left cuneus. SAD patients specifically showed a thinner cortical thickness in the right precentral cortex.InterpretationOur results indicate that MDD and SAD share common patterns of gray matter abnormalities in the orbitofrontal-striatal-thalamic circuit, salience network and dorsal attention network. These consistent structural differences in the two patient groups may contribute to the broad spectrum of emotional, cognitive and behavioral disturbances observed in MDD patients and SAD patients. In addition, we found disorder-specific involvement of the visual processing regions in MDD and the precentral cortex in SAD. These findings provide new evidence regarding the shared and specific neuropathological mechanisms that underlie MDD and SAD.

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“…Previous studies have already shown that abnormal cortical thickness is present in both neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease, and acute or chronic pain disorders such as migraine [27–29]. Interestingly, the pattern of modifications obtained was reminiscent of what is found in anxiety [30], depression [31], or dependence [32]. In accordance to the pattern of relationships between brain and clinical variables established in the present study, multiple psychological states may contribute to the overuse of acute medications, including fear of headache, anticipatory anxiety, obsessional drug-taking behaviors, depression and, psychological drug dependence.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Brain structural investigation and hippocampal tractography in medication overuse headache: a native space analysis

et al. 2017

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BackgroundSpatial normalization of brain images, a prerequisite for voxel based morphometry analysis, may account for the large variability of the volumetric data in medication overuse headache (MOH); possibly because this disease concerns patients differing on both sex and age, and hence with different brain size and shape.MethodsThe present study aimed at providing a subject-based analysis of macrostructure using a native space volumes segmentation (Freesurfer), and microstructure using a region of interest (ROI: i.e. hippocampus) tractography approach in MOH patients.ResultsThe results show that MOH patients had decreased volumes of left hemisphere temporal gyri (temporal superior, fusiform) and occipital middle gyrus, together with an increased volume of the left inferior (temporal) lateral ventricle. The left temporal volume was negatively correlated with depression score and medication dependence parameters. Seed-based tractography of the hippocampus revealed a decreased number of reconstructed fibers passing through the left hippocampus.ConclusionTo our knowledge, these alterations have not been described with methods involving brain normalization, and they indicate that left hemisphere temporal areas, including the hippocampus, may play a role in MOH pathophysiology. Trial registration number NCT00833209. Registered 29 January 2009

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Grey matter abnormalities in social anxiety disorder: a pilot study

Cited by 92 publications

References 79 publications

Increased Amygdalar and Hippocampal Volumes in Young Adults with Social Anxiety

Increased Amygdalar and Hippocampal Volumes in Young Adults with Social Anxiety

Gray Matter Abnormalities in Non-comorbid Medication-naive Patients with Major Depressive Disorder or Social Anxiety Disorder

Brain structural investigation and hippocampal tractography in medication overuse headache: a native space analysis

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